Nagaland United play their first IFL game in Srinagar on Friday, and the league is back to home and away

No club from Nagaland has ever played in India’s national league. That changes at 6:30pm IST on Friday, 30 October, when Nagaland United walk out at the TRC Stadium in Srinagar to play Real Kashmir in the opening game of the 2026-27 Indian Football League.

The IFL, the second tier that used to be the I-League, has 11 clubs this season and three are new. Nagaland United are joined by FC Bengaluru United and Odisha’s Samaleswari SC. Mohammedan SC are back too, after a 2025-26 ISL season in which they finished bottom without winning a game and became the first club ever relegated from the ISL.

How Nagaland got a seat

Nagaland United did not win their way in. They took over Aizawl FC’s place in a deal the AIFF signed off on 9 September, and Aizawl will carry on in the Mizoram Premier League. Home games will be at the Chümoukedima Football Stadium; the IG Stadium in Kohima is bigger, but its artificial pitch is not up to national-league standard.

The club launched three kits last week, and the home shirt is a tribute to Dr Talimeren Ao, the Naga footballer who captained India at the 1948 London Olympics. “We play football”, the line attributed to him, is printed inside the collar. Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio told the club to go for the title, then was honest about what the first squad looks like: mostly players from outside the state, with local youngsters expected to earn places over time. His other request was simpler. Don’t finish near the bottom.

A full season again

Last season did not start until 27 February and was split into two stages, with a championship round for the top half and a relegation round for the rest. This one is a straight home-and-away league. Leg 1 alone has 55 fixtures between now and 10 January, so every club meets the other ten once by 10 January.

Clubs will also have to think harder about their foreigners. The AIFF’s governing council has capped teams at three overseas players on the pitch at any one time, which matters most for the sides who have signed more than three.

Lajong’s unfinished business

Shillong Lajong have the best reason to want this started. They finished 2025-26 on 28 points, one behind Diamond Harbour, and beat the champions 3-0 at Kalyani on the final day anyway. Diamond Harbour won promotion to the ISL and never played in it. They missed the AIFF’s 19 August deadline to pay the last ₹55 lakh of their ISL fee, and the top flight went ahead with 13 clubs.

Lajong’s first game is back at Kalyani, against Mohammedan on Saturday afternoon. That is a tough way to start, against a side that was in the ISL five months ago.

Opening weekend

All five first-round games are packed into three days:

• Friday, 30 October: Real Kashmir vs Nagaland United, Srinagar, 6:30pm IST
• Saturday, 31 October: Mohammedan vs Shillong Lajong, Kalyani, 4pm IST
• Saturday, 31 October: Gokulam Kerala vs Samaleswari, Kozhikode, 6:30pm IST
• Sunday, 1 November: Rajasthan United vs Sreenidi Deccan, Jaipur, 4pm IST
• Sunday, 1 November: Dempo vs FC Bengaluru United, Goa, 6:30pm IST

Chanmari sit out the first round. For Real Kashmir, a home game against a club that has never played a minute at this level is a decent way to open. Nagaland United would probably take a point and go home happy.

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